Restacking apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for use in an automatic copying device is herein disclosed for storing cut sheets of final support material between processing stations. A supply tray is positioned intermediate the processing stations and is arranged to receive and store cut sheets in stack configuration. Jogging members are positioned to act upon the front margin and the side margin of the individual sheets forwarded into the tray wherein the sheets are placed in registration prior to their being forwarded to the next subsequent station.

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ed to tioned intermediate the processing stations and is arrang 8 B l 3h 5 6 B receive and store cut sheets in stack configuration. Jogging m u& II o M k F mem side bers are positioned to act upon the front marginand the margin of the individual sheets forwarded into the tra y ir [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS wherein the sheets are placed inregistration prior to the being forwarded to the next subsequentstation.

PATENTEDnEmmn 3 5 7,31

SHEET 1 OF 6 a1 RI & R '3 INVENTOfig MERTON R. SPEAR GEORGE E. FACKLERBY CHARLES J. KUBASTA A T TORNEV PATENIED DEB I 4 ml SHEET t 0F 6RESTACKING APPARATUS This invention relates to sheet handling apparatusand, in particular, jogging mechanism for placing a plurality of sheetsinto precise lateral and longitudinal alignment.

In automatic copying machines, it has been found convenient to reproducea replica of an original on cut sheets such as copy paper or the like.Generally, the cut sheets are aligned and packaged in stacks and themachine operator simply places the aligned stack within a supply trayfrom which the sheets are separated and forwarded to the automaticprocessing stations. In this manner, misfeeding or overfeeding of theindividual sheets is avoided. As can be seen, the initial packaging andpositioning of the sheets within the supply tray involves several manualsteps. Because this manual operation is perfonned prior to the machineoperations, the automatic integrity of the machine is in no wayaffected. However, with duplexing apparatus of the type hereindisclosed, it has become necessary to accumulate and align cut sheets ofmaterial between the automatic processing operations if the machine isto be truly automatic.

It is therefore an object of this invention to improve sheet handlingapparatus to automatically store and restack in alignment cut sheets ofmaterial accumulated between automatic processing stations.

Another object of this invention is to eliminate the need for manualhandling of sheets accumulated in stack configuration within a supplytray.

A yet further object of this invention is to store and align betweenautomatic processing operations individual cut sheets of supportmaterial in a manner wherein the individual sheets are not damaged.

Another object of this invention is to improve apparatus for collectingcut sheets fed seriatim into a support tray and placing the sheets in acondition to be fed in registration to a subsequent automatic processingstation.

These and other objects of the present invention are attained by meansof apparatus used in an automatic reproducing machine of the typewherein cut sheets of final support material are passed through a seriesof processing stations, the apparatus being arranged to store the cutsheets between processing stations and includes a support tray forreceiving and storing said sheets of material in stack configuration, ameans to forward the individual sheets one at a time from a firstautomatic processing station into the tray, jogging means associatedwith the tray to align individual sheets fed into the tray whereby thesheets are stored in a condition to be separated and forwarded inregistration to the next subsequent processing station, and controlmeans operatively associated with the sheet feeding means to actuate thejoggers to align each individual sheets as they are delivered into thestack.

For a better understanding of these and other objects of the presentinvention reference is had to the following detailed description of theinvention to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic side elevation of an automatic xerographicreproducing machine for producing duplexed copies employing theapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the control mechanism and linkagefor conditioning the upper supply tray to receive and restack sheetswhen the reproducing machine illustrated in FIG. I is a duplex modeofoperation;

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation of the control mechanism and linkageillustrated in FIG. showing crank arm mechanism in a latched condition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view in partial section with parts broken awayto clearly illustrate the sheet jogging apparatus for restacking sheetsforwarded into the upper tray;

FIG. 5 is a partial front elevation in section illustrating theright-hand side jogger assembly of the paper restacking apparatus shownin FIG. 7;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the front edge retainingmembers and the retainer positioning and control linkage associated withupper supply tray;

FIG. 7 is a partial side view showing the cam and switching apparatus tocontrol the movement of the upper and lower feed rolls;

FIG. 8 is a partial side view showing the crank arm mechanismillustrated in FIG. 3 in an unlatched condition;

FIG. 9 is a partial side view of the feed rolls illustrated in FIG. 6showing the sheet sensing mechanism associated therewith.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention isshown herein embodied in an automatic xerographic reproducing machinecapable of producing either simplexed or duplexed copies from a widevariety of originals such as copy sheets, books, or three dimensionalforms. Although the present invention is particularly well suited foruse in automatic xerography, the sheet-feeding apparatus hereindisclosed is equally well adapted for use in any number of devices inwhich cut sheets of material are stored in a stack and the individualsheets then separated and forwarded to a subsequent processing station.It should become apparent from the discussion below that this apparatusis not necessarily limited to its application to the particularembodiment shown herein.

The automatic xerographic apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 includes aphotosensitive plate including a photoconductive layer 10 that is placedover a conductive backing. The plate is formed in the shape of a drum I1and the drum mounted upon a shaft 12 that is joumaled for rotation inthe machine frame. Basically, the xerographic drum is rotated in thedirection indicated so as to pass sequentially through a series ofxerographic processing stations. The photosensitive drum and thexerographic processing apparatus are driven at predetennined speedsrelative to each other from a single drive system (not shown) and theoperations thereof coordinated in order to produce proper cooperation ofthe various processing mechanisms.

The original object to be reproduced is placed upon a trans parenthorizontally supported platen l4 and the original scanned by means of amoving optical scanning system to produce a flowing light image of theoriginal, on the drum at exposure station B. Prior to the imaging of thedrum surface, the drum is first uniformly charged by means of a coronagenerator 13 positioned in charging station A. Under the influence ofthe flowing light image, the uniformly charged photoconductive surfaceis selectively dissipated in the nonimaged areas to fonn what iscommonly known as a latent electrostatic image."

The latent electrostatic image is carried on the drum surface from theexposure station into the developing station C. The developer materialis caused to flow downwardly in contact with the upwardly moving drumsurface under closely controlled conditions wherein charged tonerparticles are attracted from the developer mix into the image areas onthe plate surface thus making the image visible.

The moving drum surface next transports the developed xerographic imageto a transfer station D wherein the image is transferred to a sheet offinal support material and the sheet forwarded to a subsequent fusingstation.

Although a preponderance of the toner material is transferred from thedrum surface to the copy sheet during the transfer process, invariablysome residual toner remains behind on the drum surface after transfer.This residual toner is transported on the drum surface into a cleaningstation E where it is brought under the influence of cleaning corotron30 adapted to neutralize the electrostatic charge tending to hold theresidual toner to the drum surface. The neutralized toner ismechanically cleaned from the drum surface by means of a brush or thelike and the toner collected within a housing 31.

The copy sheet, which has been removed from the drum surface after thetransfer operation, is moved along stationary transport 29 into fusingstation F. The fuser 33 is basically made up of an upper fuser roll 34and a lower fuser roll 35 mounted in operative relation to each otherand arranged to coact so as to support a sheet of material in pressuredriving contact therebetween. The outer surface of the lower roll isheated by means of a horizontally supported radiant heat source 38positioned in close proximity to the roll surface adjacent to the pointat which the roll contacts the image bearing support material. As theheated roll is rotated in the direction indicated, the heated surface ofthe lower roll is pressed into intimate contact with the image face ofthe support sheet. Mechanical and heat energy transported from the rollsurface to the support sheet to permanently bond the toner particles tothe support material.

Upon leaving the fuser, the fixed copy sheet is passed through acurvilinear sheet guide system, generally referred to as 39, intocooperating advancing rolls 40 and 41. The advancing rolls forward thesheets through a linear sheet guide system 42 into a second pair ofadvancing rolls 43 and 44. At this point, depending on the mode ofoperation selected, the simplexed copy sheet is either forwarded intocatch tray 51 or into upper supply tray 52 by means of a movable sheetguide 45. As will be explained in greater detail below, movable sheetguide 45, and it associated advancing rolls, are prepositioned by themachine logic system to direct the individual sheets into the desiredpaper tray.

It is believed that the foregoing description is sufficient for purposesof the present application to show the general operation of axerographic reproducing machine embodying the teachings of the presentinvention.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 2-9, there is shown thesheet-handling apparatus of the present invention which enables aconventional xerographic machine to produce either simplexed or duplexedcopies. The mechanism to accomplish this unique result includes twosubstantially vertically aligned supply trays 52, 53 arranged to advancecopy sheets into the xerographic transfer station D and a circular sheetpath adapted to operatively connect the lower supply tray 53 to theupper supply tray 52. A movable sheet guide, generally referred to as45, is placed in the sheet path and is positionable, depending on themode of machine operation selected, to direct xerographically processedsheets of material either into a final collecting station or into theupper supply tray 52. In the simplex mode of operation, the movablesheet guide 45 is positioned as shown by the solid lines in FIG. 1 in aposition to direct copy sheets into catch tray 51.

When duplexed copies are to be produced, the movable guide is moved tothe position shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 1 and the upper trayconditioned to accept and restack simplexed copy sheets. The upper trayis further conditioned to separate and forward sheets seriatim throughthe xerographic processing stations once again where a second image isplaced on the backside of the sheet. Heretofore, the conditioning of thesheet-handling equipment to accept and recirculate simplexed copy hasgenerally been a manual operation. However, as will be explained ingreater detail below, the apparatus of the present invention now makesit possible to automatically hold and then reprocess the copy sheetsbetween copy runs.

The individual supply trays 52, 53 are movably supported between themachine frames 91, 92 upon a set of rails 104 (FIG. 2) and are capableof being moved in a horizontal direction between a first operativeposition and a second trayloading position. In the operative position,the sheet trays are supported adjacent to the sheet-registeringapparatus 24 wherein sheets forwarded from either tray are directed intoa pair of sheet-registering rolls which align the sheets prior to thembeing forwarded into the transfer station.

Both the upper supply tray and the lower supply tray are of similarconstruction. The trays include a horizontal support platform 56 havinga dependent, downwardly turned, vertical aligned front flange 54, astationary side margin guide 59 and a movable side margin guide 58. Thestationary margin guide is rigidly afiixed to the support platform andhas a vertically extended leg thereon. The movable guide similarly has avertical leg complimentary to that of the stationary side margin guideand is adapted to cooperate therewith to guide individual sheetsforwarded from the trays along a predetermined path of travel into thesheet-registering apparatus 24. The movable side margin guide isslidably carried upon the support platform and arranged to movelaterally thereon making it possible to accommodate sheets of varyinglengths upon the platform. To aid in the correct positioning of a stackof final support sheets within the tray, the tray is provided with anindexing scale for laterally positioning the movable side margin guide.

An L-shaped rear retaining member 64 is affixed to each of the verticallegs of the side margin guides. The two rear retaining membersassociated with each supply tray cooperate to longitudinally positionthe stack upon the support platform. The members are basically formed ofan angular plate including a rear wall 60 and a flange 61 adapted tooverlay in parallel relation the vertical legs of the side margin guidemembers. Each of the side margin guides is provided with a stud (notshown) which protrudes through a horizontally slotted hole in the flange61 of the rear retaining member 64 and is engaged by a thumb nut wherebyeach rear retaining member may be adjusted and tightened against theside margin guide.

To feed sheets of final support material one at a time from each of theindividual supply trays, there is provided a sheet separating andfeeding means, generally referenced 85, consisting of a pair of drivenfeed rollers 86 supported in a selfaligning manner within floatingbearings secured to a shaft 87.

As individual sheets are fed from the stacks, the freely mounted,self-adjusting, feed rolls drop down into contact with the nextsubsequent sheet in the stack. Each feed roller is operatively connectedto the drive shaft 89 by means of a clutch and pulley arrangement. Theprescribed sheet-feeding motion is translated to the rollers through theclutch and pulley arrangement in proper timed relation with an image onthe drum surface wherein the advanced sheets and the image arrive at thetransfer station at the same time.

As can be seen, the side of each of the support platforms adjacent tothe sheet-registering apparatus is unobstructed so that an uninterruptedpath of travel is provided along which individual sheets of supportmaterial, which have been separated from the individual stacks, can beforwarded into the registering means. To retain the front margins of theindividual stacks in alignment during sheet separation and forwardingthere is provided a pair of front margin sheet retaining members (FIG.6). Each retaining member 70 includes a main body 74 about which isrotatably mounted a hinged tab 75. The tab is pivotally mounted in thebody upon a pivot rod 79. A torsion spring (not shown) is wound aboutthe rod and normally biases the tab against a stop aflixed to the bodyof the member to hold the tab in a horizontally extended positionsubstantially perpendicular to the body of the retainer.

Each retaining member 70 is joumaled for rotation in the free end of theassociated lifting arm 72 upon a pin 71.' The retaining members 70 aredesigned so that their respective centers of gravity are located at apoint wherein the freely supported member normally assumes a positionwith the tab normally extended in a horizontal position. As sheets aredelivered into the upper supply tray, as for example during duplexing,the sheets rest on top of tabs 78. The tabs are repositioned when thelifting arms are elevated causing the hinged tabs to swing downwardlyabout the upwardly moving body 74. The tabs continue to swing downwardlyuntil they are removed from beneath the stack. Further elevation of thelifting arms moves the tabs upwardly in contact with the front margin ofthe stack until such time as the top of the stack is cleared. At thistime, the biasing spring acting in conjunction with the downwardlypulling weighted end 75 of the tab, forces the tab to move rapidly backinto its normal horizontally extended position. As the lifting armsstart downwardly through the prescribed path of motion, the extendedtabs engage the top sheet on the stack. The actuator arms are allowed tocontinue to swing down until they come to rest once again against stops124 so that the retaining members, and their associated lifting arms,hang in a suspended manner upon the stack to support the stack in sheetfeeding alignment as shown in FIG. 6.

In order to feed individual sheets from either of the two supply stacks,the topmost sheet in the stack is first separated from the main body ofthe stack by forming a separating buckle in the sheet and the sheet thenforwarded to subsequent sheet-handling means within sheet-registeringapparatus 24. At the beginning of each sheet-feeding cycle, the feedrollers 86 are rotated in a direction to cause the leading edge of thetopmost sheet in the stack to be moved rearwardly from beneath the frontedge retaining members 70. The trailing edge of the sheet, however, isheld stationary by the rear walls 60 in rear retaining members 64 sothat a separating buckle is formed longitudinally across the sheet. Thesuspended front retaining members 70, and their respective lifting arms,at this time drop down into supporting engagement with the main body ofthe stack. The direction of rotation of the feed rollers is thenreversed and the now separated sheet driven over the top of thehorizontally extended tabs 75 into sheet-registering apparatus 24. Therear surfaces of the extended tabs taper down in knife edge fashion soas to allow the forwarded sheets to pass easily thereover.

Drive shafts 89, associated with the two feed roller assemblies 85, aredriven from a main programmer shaft 101 rotatably supported in thesheet-registering apparatus 24. The programmer shaft is, in turn, drivenin timed relation with the xerographic drum by means of the main machinedrive (not shown) to coordinate sheet advancement with the processing ofan image on the drum surface wherein the image and the copy sheet moveinto transfer station D in synchronous timed relation.

To duplex, the operator first insures that the upper tray is emptied ofall copy sheets, a first original is placed upon the platen 14 prior tothe duplex mode of operation selected. Selection of the duplex mode ofoperation causes a solenoid SOL1 (FIGS. 2, 3) to be energized pullingdown link 201. The downward motion of the link causes the lever arm tobe rotated about stud 199 forcing flexible member 203 into biasingcontact with a crank arm 204. The crank arm 204 is provided with anarcuateshaped elongated hole 205 having a notch (not shown) machined inthe bottom wall thereof. A dependent arm 207 on the cam follower carrieda drive pin 206 which is arranged to pass through the elongated slottedhole provided in the crank arm. Normally the pin will ride freely alongthe top surface of the slotted hole 205 wherein the crank arm remainsrelatively stationary as the follower arm is rocked by the continuallyrotating cam 213. However, as flexible member 203 is forced upwardly bythe energized solenoid SOL-l, pin 206 is forced to ride along the bottomsurface of the slotted hole. Pin 206 falls into the notch provided inthe lower surface of the slotted hole and is held therein by thepressure exerted by flexible. arm 203. Further motion of the cam is thentranslated directly to the crank arm through the follower arm 208, whichis biased in a continuous contact with the cam face by spring 198,causing the crank to reciprocate back and forth in substantially ahorizontal direction.

During the first reciprocating cycle of the crank arm, downwardlyextended dependent projection 217 formed in the opposite end of thecrank arm moves into engagement with a stub pin 218 securely staked tomovable plate 220. The movable plate is pivotally mounted in machineframe 92 upon pivot pin 221. As the crank arm, as shown in FIG. 3, isdriven forward, that is, to the right, toward a fully extended position,the movable plate is rotated in a clockwise direction. During thisperiod, solenoid SOL-l is continually held energized and continues toexert a downward pressure on the lever arm 202. As illustrated in FIG.15, the arm, however, is initially prevented from swinging to a fulldown position by a stop pin 222 affixed in the lower portion of plate220. Further movement of the crank arm, however, forces the stop pin 222to be moved out of interference with the extended portion 196 of leverarm 202 allowing the solenoid to pull the lever arm to a full downposition. Now, as the crank arm starts back from its fully extendedposition, the stop pin 222 moves into contact with the vertical surface223 on the extended arm I96 to latch movable plate 220 in a stationaryposition as illustrated in FIG. 6. The plate will remain in this latchedposition as long as solenoid SOL-l is held energized.

This initial rotation of plate 220 to a latch position conditions theupper tray to accept and restack sheets supplied from the lower traywhich have been xerographically processed to produce an image on oneside thereof. First, movable guide 45 (FIG. 1), positioned in thecircular sheet path, is pulled downwardly to direct sheets fed along thesheet path directly into the upper tray. Secondly, the upper supply trayfeed rollers are elevated out of the sheet feed path to permit sheets tobe expelled from the movable guide directly into an upper tray in anunobstructed manner. The movable guide 45 is pivotally mounted about ashaft 50 and normally held in an up position by spring means. Themovable guide is driven from the normally up position to a down positionby means of actuator link 228 (FIG. 2). One end of the link is freelysupported in the movable guide 45 upon shaft 187 while the opposite endof the link is mounted upon stop pin 222 which is staked in rotatableplate 220. Pin 222 extends rearwardly through a hole provided in machineframe 92 and is slidably received within a slotted hole 227 in theactuator link. An adjustment screw 229, which is mounted in a verticalflange 230 on the driven end of the link, limits the length of the pathof travel along which pin 222 may slide within hole 227. As the plate220 is moved in a clockwise direction as explained above, stop pin 222engages adjustment screw 227 pulling the link 228 towards the rear ofthe upper tray. This rearward motion of the link, in turn, pulls themovable guide to a full down position so that it is now in a conditionto feed sheets directly into upper tray 52.

When plate 222 is moved to the latched position by solenoid SOL-lfurther mechanism is activated to elevate the upper tray feed rollerassembly. As seen in FIG. 2 camming rod 116 passes through machine frame92 and the extended end thereof secured in eccentric link 240. Theextreme end of the eccentric link is journaled in the top portion of asecond S- shaped link 241 and the opposite end of the S-shaped linkjournaled for rotation in movable plate 220 upon the pin provided. Asthe crank arm is driven through its first reciprocating cycle, latchingplate 220 is held in a latched condition against pin 222 and theS-shaped link 241 is pulled to a down position. This downward motion ofthe link causes camming rod 116 to be rotated in a direction raisingoffset 117 to an elevated position thus forcing the feed roller assemblyabove the top level of the upper tray. Therefore, during the first fullreciprocating cycle of the crank arm 204, the movable guide 45 is movedto a down position and the upper feed rolls are elevated to allow sheetsforwarded along the circular path of travel to be fed into the uppertray.

Sheets forwarded from the lower tray are registered in the register stoprolls and then passed through transfer station D to the xerographicprocessing stations where a first image is placed upon the copy sheet.The copy sheet advanced by means of the heretofore describedsheet-advancing rolls into the upper supply tray. Delivering a simplexsheet to the upper tray, however, is not in itself sufficient to insurethat the sheets will be properly stacked and aligned prior to the startof the duplexing operations. It has long been known that improperlystacked sheets are the cause of misregistration and misfeeding of sheetsresulting in the paper jams and in extreme cases of machine breakage.The upper tray therefore is provided with means to receive and restackthe simplexed sheets delivered from the lower supply tray.

The sheet-restacking apparatus associated with the upper supply tray 52is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The restackingfundamentally consists of two front margin aligning members or joggers245 and side margin joggers generally referred to as 257, both of whichare driven by means of crank arm 204. When a simplexed sheet has beendelivered into the upper supply tray, the front joggers are movedupwardly into contact with the front margin of the sheet forcing thesheet into registration with the backwall 60 of the supply tray.Simultaneously, two side joggers move into contact with the side marginof the sheet to laterally align the sheet within the tray.

The front joggers 245 are secured to a shaft 248 and the shaft rotatablysupported in the machine frame (not shown) below the level and a bitforward of the open end of the upper supply tray 52. The shaft iscoupled to the crank arm 204 by means of an extension spring 251 pinnedto the crank arm. Extension of the crank arm during any reciprocatingcycle causes the spring to pull a coupling 250 in a clockwise directionrotating shaft 248 in a counterclockwise direction. The front joggersare thus raised from a near horizontal position below the level of thetray to a sheet-engaging vertical position as shown in FIG. 4 to forcethe sheets rearwardly into registration against the backwall 60 of thetray. In order to insure that each sheet is registered against the backof the tray, the front joggers are permitted to be moved by the crankarm a greater distance than required to move the sheet into contact withthe rear wall 60. As can be seen, however, the pressure imparted by thecam system is regulated by the dampening action of the spring so thatthe spring is deformed before any damaging forces are transmitted to thecopy sheets.

The rear end of the crank arm 204 is operatively connected to a bail 255which is joumaled between the machine frames upon shaft 258 and whichextends horizontally beneath the upper supply tray 52. As shown in FIG.4, the left-hand end of the bail shaft is afl'lxed to a link 256 and thelink rotatably secured in the crank arm 206 wherein the bail swingsupwardly as the crank moves to its fully extended position. Riding incontact with the top surface of the bail are two vertically extendedrods 259 slidably supported within individual housings 260. The housingsare mounted adjacent to the side margin guides in the cutouts providedupon the supply tray platform 56. The vertically extended rod isarranged to pass through both the housing and the support platform andrides freely in contact with the bail carried beneath the tray platform.

FIG. 5 illustrates the internal arrangement of the rod within theindividual housings 260. The rod is supported within the housing frameand has an inverted truncated member 261 af fixed to the center portionthereof. A compression spring 262 is secured between the top of thehousing and on the truncated member and acts to hold the vertical rod inbiasing contact with the bail 255. A flexible bar 263 is locked at oneend to the housing by means ofa clamp 264 (FIG. 4) and carries avertically extended side margin jogger 246 on the free end thereof. Theflexible bar rides in contact with the truncated member and is flexedinwardly towards the side margin of the upper supply stack as the rod israised by the bail. The two side joggers are adapted to move in concertinto contact with the sheets to position the sheets therebetween inproper sheet feeding alignment. Here again, the restacking force istransmitted through a flexible member which prevents sheetdamagingforces from being imparted from the drive mechanism to the copy sheets.

In practice, the programmer shaft moves through one complete revolutionfor each xerographic processing cycle and each sheet feeding cycle. Thecrank is also controlled by the programmer shaft motion so that onereciprocating cycle of the crank is produced for each rotation of theprogrammer shaft. Because the motion of the individual joggers isphysically linked to the crank arm the joggers will act to align eachindividual sheet fed into the upper tray during duplexing operationsthus insuring that the resultant stack is properly maintained in acondition wherein sheets are able to be once again fed through thexerographic processing stations.

When the upper tray is cleared prior to duplexing the retaining membersare automatically repositioned in the bottom of the upper tray. Thesimplexed sheets delivered into the tray are simply restacked directlyabove the extended tabs.

Upon completion of the restacking operation, cam 213 is permitted by themachine logic to make at least one more complete revolution. As the camfollower passes the low point in its motion, a second solenoid SOL-2 isenergized pulling the floating arm 271 (FIG. 6) inwardly towards thesolenoid body. A universal member 272, passing through the floating arm,is rotatably mounted in a fixed position on vertical shaft 273. As canbe seen, when the solenoid is energized the universal member is pulledin a counterclockwise direction towards the solenoid. One end of thefollower arm 208 is provided with a flange 274 which is moved downwardlyas the follower traces the low side of the cam profile. When the flangeis in the low position, the universal member 271 is able to be pulledover the flange by the solenoid. As the follower starts back in anupward direction during a subsequent rise portion of the cam cycle, theflange is brought into contact with the bottom of the universal member.Further upper movements of the flange causes the universal to pushagainst a fixed bushing 275 secured to shaft 273 lifting the shaft. 7

The bottom of the vertical shaft 273 is pinned to a link 278 which, inturn, is pivoted about a stub shaft 279. The stub shaft is held in astationary position in mounted block 280 which is secured to the machineframe. The other end, or top of the vertical shaft 273 is pinned to anactuator arm 283 and the arm rockably supported by stub shaft 284secured in mounting block 285. As the shaft is raised, actuator am 283is swung in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 6 forcing a dowel pin288 secured thereto into contact with a horizontal slide member 290slidably supported in the upper tray.

Slide member is slidably mounted in the downwardly turned front flange56 of the upper tray platform below the level of the stack and isadapted to reciprocate in a horizontal direction. When the tray is in anoperative position, the slide 290 is biased into contact with dowel 288secured in arm 283 by means of an extension spring 307. A pin 309 isstaked to the upper tray platform flange and passes through a slottedhole 308 provided in the slide. A second pin 310 is similarly staked tothe slide member and the extension spring supported therebetween in aworking position so as to urge the slide member against dowel 288.

Two actuator anns 122 are supported in the front of the upper tray andnormally rest against stops 124 affixed to slide member 290. As can beseen, as shaft 273 moves upwardly, dowel pin 288 is forced against slide290 causing the slide to move in a horizontal direction against thebiasing force of spring 307. As the slide moves in the horizontaldirection, stops 124 are moved over the cam surfaces 316 of the actuatorarms 122 causing the arms to swing in a clockwise direction. Slide 290is moved far enough in a horizontal direction to displace pin 124sufliciently to cause the lifting arms to raise retaining members 70 asdescribed above to an elevation above the top level of the tray. As thecam 213 passes the rise portion of the cycle and returns toward the lowportion thereof, the slide returns to its home position. At this time,the retaining members carried by the lifting arms are brought intoengagement with the top of the stack proprietary to sheet feedingoperations. A manual slide actuator 315 is provided at the opposite sideof each tray which is affixed to the slide. If for some reason theretainer fails to engage the stack properly,

the operator simply pulls the actuator laterally to recycle theretainers into proper alignment.

At the completion of the automatic restacking and retainer positioningoperation, both solenoids SOL-l and SOL-2 are deenergized.Deenergization of solenoid SOL-1 allows pin 206 to once again ride incontact with the top surface of slotted hole 205 in the crank arm. Atthis time arm 202 is moved upwardly unlatching movable plate 220 and theplate allowed to return once again to its normal home position thusplacing the upper feed roll assembly in contact with the top of thestack and returning the movable sheet guides to the up position whereinsheets are capable of being fed from the upper tray through the circularpaper feed directly into catch tray 51 (FIG. 1). At this time, theoperator places a second original on the copyboard and starts the uppertray sheet feed operations. The simplex sheets are passed through theregistration system and the xerographic processing stations wherein aduplexed image is placed on the backside thereof and the duplexed copyexhausted exterior the machine in catch tray 51.

A limit switch LS-3 is carried on one of the upper tray feed rollsupport members 88 and has a sensing arm 310 thereon capable of ridingin contact with the top of the stack. When the last simplexed sheet isfed from the upper tray the actuator arm 312 is allowed to fall throughopening 311 in the upper tray platform sending a signal to the logicsystem that the duplexing operations are completed. This signal is thenused to program the mechanical drive system to terminate the machineoperations.

While this invention has been disclosed with references to the structuredescribed herein, it is not to be confined to the details as set forth,and this application is to cover all modifications and changes which maycome within the scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus to jog and align the margins of a stack of cut sheetssupported within a substantially horizontal supply tray including a pairof housings each positionable adjacent to the individual side margin ofthe stack,

a vertical rod slidably mounted in a vertical direction within each ofsaid housing,

a truncated cone-shaped member secured to each of said rods in axialalignment therewith,

an elongated flexible member affixed in a substantial horizontaldirection at one end to each of said housings and having a verticallyaligned jogger supported in the free end thereof, said flexible memberbeing positioned between said rod and said stack and being biased intocontact with the outer surface of said truncated cone,

a bail positioned below the level of the tray and arranged tooperatively engage the bottom surface of the two vertical support rods,

control means to periodically raise and lower said bail wherein theflexible members are simultaneously moved into and out of contact withthe side margin of said stack for the jogging and alignment thereof andmeans to mount at least one of said housings and rods relative to saidbail to permit the jogging and alignment of various sized documents.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further including front margin joggersmounted adjacent to the front of the tray and being operativelyconnected to said control means so as to move into aligning contact withthe front margin of the individual sheets in said tray to register saidsheets against the rear wall of said tray as said flexible members aremoved into and out of contact with the side margins of said stack.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said front margin joggers areresiliently coupled to said control means to regulate the pressureexerted by said front margin joggers on the stack.

1. Apparatus to jog and align the margins of a stack of cut sheetssupported within a substantially horizontal supply tray including a pairof housings each positionable adjacent to the individual side margin ofthe stack, a vertical rod slidably mounted in a vertical directionwithin each of said housing, a truncated cone-shaped member secured toeach of said rods in axial alignment therewith, an elongated flexiblemember affixed in a substantial horizontal direction at one end to eachof said housings and having a vertically aligned jogger supported in thefree end thereof, said flexible member being positioned between said rodand said stack and being biased into contact with the outer surface ofsaid truncated cone, a bail positioned below the level of the tray andarranged to operatively engage the bottom surface of the two verticalsupport rods, control means to periodically raise and lower said bailwherein the flexible members are simultaneously moved into and out ofcontact with the side margin of said stack for the jogging and alignmentthereof and means to mount at least one of said housings and rodsrelative to said bail to permit the jogging and alignment of varioussized documents.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further including frontmargin joggers mounted adjacent to the front of the tray and beingoperatively connected to said control means so as to move into aligningcontact with the front margin of the individual sheets in said tray toregister said sheets against the rear wall of said tray as said flexiblemembers are moved into and out of contact with the side margins of saidstack.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said front margin joggersare resiliently coupled to said control means to regulate the pressureexerted by said front margin joggers on the stack.